What do you talk about?

Foundations of Amateur Radio

When was the last time you told anyone anything about your hobby? What about someone who isn't also an amateur?

Have you ever considered why there is a perception that our hobby is dying, why it's running out of people, why we struggle to get air-time in mainstream media, why attracting new members is hard and why there is a very narrow range of understanding about what our hobby is, what it does and how it's relevant in the world today?

I'm a radio amateur. So are you. You might not be licensed yet, but the fact that you're here right now indicates a willingness to understand and learn, to participate and question.

Those qualities are the fundamental building blocks that make up a radio amateur.

I'm also a self-employed computer consultant, a radio broadcaster, an interviewer, a software developer, a public speaker, a blogger, author, publisher and a partner. My friends include people who are process managers, astronomers, gynaecologists, mariners, tow truck drivers, communications technicians, volunteer fire-fighters, business owners, employees, retirees, fathers, mothers, old, young and everything in between. Radio Amateurs one and all.

When you sign up to be an amateur, you don't give up all the other things you are. You don't stop being a member of society, you just add in another box marked radio amateur and you get on with your life.

If you get into this hobby you begin to realise that it sneaks into everyday life all the time. You use it to figure out how something works, or explain why it doesn't, you use it to trace a circuit or to plug in your new surround sound system. You use it to encourage curiosity in your children and to talk to your grand-children. It's not an add-on, it's part of who you are.

That's always been the case, but the perception in the general public has not been like that, it's been based around the idea that being a radio amateur is being special, being separate, being knowledgeable, studied, licensed. The reality is that the world we live in is more connected than ever and the things we once did in isolation are now part of mainstream life.

There is a perception that amateur radio is dying. Articles describe how we need to attract more people, how we need to appeal to children, how we need to recruit, become sexy or relevant. There's discussion about what's broken in the hobby, how we need to fix it.

I think that none of those things are what's in need of investigation. I think it's us. You and I. I think we need to stop being shy about being a radio amateur, about what we do and why we enjoy it; what it means and how it works.

When you talk about your activities of the day, if you made a rare contact with Tuvalu, or managed to connect your computer to your radio, or made an antenna work, or climbed on a hill or learnt Morse Code, you need to share your victories and the excitement that they bring you.

As a society we're not shy about tweeting what we had for breakfast, sharing an interesting picture or discussing an article we saw on reddit. Fundamentally what you do and who you are is worth talking about and sharing.

So, next time you talk about going camping, or discuss a barbecue you had with friends, or relate to your friends something that happened, don't be shy about your amateur radio affiliation.

It's not a secret society, it's not weird or embarrassing, it's just part of what makes you who you are.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB